There is no long-lasting debate in Egyptian football like employing the 4-4-2 formation, which European teams started to use many years ago and began to shift towards other strategies. Zamalek boss Henri Michel is the last name in a long list containing managers who used the 4-4-2 formation, but will the Frenchman be able to continue his method which is unfortunately, new to the Egyptian players' mentality? The Cairo giants conceded two goals at home against Sudan's Hilal in the CAF Champions League and three against struggling side Asyut Petroleum in the Egyptian League. However, Michel has so far refused to return back to the familiar 3-5-2 formation, with a sweeper playing behind two centre backs. "No team in the world play with the 3-5-2 formation nowadays," Michel told Egyptian daily newspaper Al-Messa. "Anyone who says 4-4-2 doesn't suit the Egyptian players can come and take my role. Let me try to employ it, I'm sure that by time Zamalek players will get used to it." Previous attempts Zamalek's former manager Dragoslav Stepanovic made an attempt in 2005 to play with the 4-4-2 formation but it turned out to be a nightmare for the German coach. Two draws and a 4-2 defeat to arch-rivals Ahli have ended his campaign, eight matches after the Egyptian League's beginning. Zamalek's only successful spell under the 4-4-2 formation came in the 2003/2004 season in which Portuguese Eduardo Vingada was in charge of the team. The men in white secured the league title for the second consecutive season in one of their greatest domestic successes, having ensured their triumph four matches before the end. However, some critics pointed out that this season was not a complete success as the five-time African champions crashed out of the CAF Champions League from the preliminaries after suffering a 6-4 aggregate defeat to APR FC of Rwanda.
Tardelli's attempt wasn't a success Zamalek were also eliminated from the Egyptian Cup's round of 16 after losing to Tersana on penalty kicks. Egypt national team Italian boss Marco Tardelli was appointed as Egypt manager in 2004 in a bid to guide the country to their first World Cup appearance since 1990. He didn't spend much time in discussing with his Italian assistant, Luca Giannini, the strategy which he will use with the Pharaohs. The 4-4-2 formation quickly came to his mind. Despite a 3-0 away victory over Sudan in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers opener, the rest of the campaign witnessed disastrous results which ended Egypt's hopes of reaching the WC finals in Germany. Egypt were handed a 2-1 home defeat to Ivory Coast before being held to a stunning 3-3 away draw with African minnows Benin. Those two results put heavy obstacles in the country's road to Germany. The Egyptian Football Association axed Tardelli in November 2004 and hired Arab Contractors boss Hassan Shehata, who was just celebrating a historic Egyptian Cup triumph with the then second division club. Shehata followed in Tardelli's footsteps in employing the 4-4-2 formation and succeeded in winning many friendlies including victories over South Korea and Belgium. But in the decisive WC qualifiers clash against Ivory Coast in Abidjan, and despite the several trials he had with the 4-4-2 system, Shehata strangely switched to the traditional 3-5-2 formation. It was quite clear that the former Zamalek star feared that any possible loss against the Elephants would spark a heavy media criticism aimed at his strategy. The result was that Egypt were officially dumped out of the race for the WC ticket after losing 2-0.
